Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged garden, guava, guayaba, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Psidium rufum, purple guava, terrace garden, trees on June 15, 2017| 5 Comments »
What could be called, A terrace transformed – Phase 4, is currently underway at Casita Colibrí. A highlight is the addition of several trees, including a guava (known here as, guayaba) already bearing fruit. I see pitchers of agua de guayaba in my future.
Once this phase of my growing garden is finished, a blog post will no doubt result. Stay tuned…
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged birds, cactus, flowers, gardens, hibiscus, lizards, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on June 4, 2017| 4 Comments »
… from my rooftop garden in the city.
Opuntia – April 2017
Lizard on the terraza – June 2017
A feathered friend watching from a distance – June 2017
Hibiscus flower this morning – June 2017
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Gardens, Science & Nature, Weather, tagged garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, rain storms, storm damage, weather on May 23, 2017| 7 Comments »
A word to the wise, be careful what you wish for…
After almost two weeks of 90º+(F) temperatures, late this afternoon lightening flashed, thunder rumbled, gusty winds replaced still humid air, and on Tlaloc’s command, torrential rain and hail pounded Oaxaca city. Water began coming in closed doors and windows, plants and chairs overturned on the terrace, an empty concrete bag flew up and over a ten foot fence and across the forty-five feet of my terrace landing at my doorstep, and power went out for almost two hours.
This evening, at Casita Colibrí, plants have been righted, chairs have been retrieved and stacked, and flooded floors have been mopped. However, in other parts of the city, there are reports of trees and power lines down, massive flooding, and a roof collapsed at Central de Abastos. Initial news reports (en español):
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, tagged flower of the day, flowers, garden, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plants on May 21, 2017| 4 Comments »
This morning there were three… And, when I came out to greet my night blooming cereus, they looked wistful.
Remembering last night’s splendor? Or, reflecting on how fleeting their glory? Me? I’m appreciating their presence in my present.
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Gardens, tagged birds, chain link fence, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on May 14, 2017| 2 Comments »
I have to chuckle every morning when I turn on the fountain — within seconds the birds begin arriving. Apparently, there is a pecking order for bathing. The chain link fence provides an open-air waiting room — a perfect perch for keeping an eye on the bathers below.
Some, like this little guy, are more patient than others.
Posted in Agriculture, Flora, Food, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged fruit trees, gardens, granadas, grapefruit, mango, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, pomegranate, Teotitlán del Valle, trees on May 2, 2017| 4 Comments »
Cooking with Juana… Mangos ripening just out of reach.
Sunlight filtering through the leaves of the granada (pomegranate) tree.
A pomelo (grapefruit) waiting to drop.
There is something to be said for outdoor kitchens.
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged flowers, garden, Mexico, Night Blooming Cereus, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plants on April 4, 2017| 4 Comments »
Friday night, around 9:45, I went out onto the terrace to turn on the security lights. But, who needs lights when my cereus was glowing in the dark, beckoning bats and other pollinators of the night?
By 9:30 on Saturday morning, the curtain and petals had begun to fall.
Saturday night, oblivious and readying for the dawn of daylight savings time, I turned the motion sensor lights on early and never gave the cereus a first, let alone second, glance. However, at 7:45 AM on Sunday morning, with coffee in hand, I went out on the terrace and couldn’t miss the show my night blooming cereus had staged while I slept.
Three hours later, the latest extravaganza had drawn to a close — but I see tiny buds waiting in the wings.
[There are] many other small joys, perhaps the especially delightful one of smelling a flower or a piece of fruit, of listening to one’s own or others’ voices, of hearkening to the prattle of children. And a tune being hummed or whistled in the distance, and a thousand other tiny things from which one can weave a bright necklace of little pleasures for one’s life.
…
My advice to the person suffering from lack of time and from apathy is this: Seek out each day as many as possible of the small joys, and thriftily save up the larger, more demanding pleasures for holidays and appropriate hours. It is the small joys first of all that are granted us for recreation, for daily relief and disburdenment, not the great ones.
— Hermann Hesse on Little Joys
Save
Posted in Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Abraham Lincoln quote, bicycles, bougainvilla, bougainvillea, John Gay quote, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, shadows on March 15, 2017| 8 Comments »
… and shadows in Oaxaca in March.
Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing. — Abraham Lincoln
Shadow owes its birth to light. — John Gay
Posted in Culture, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged bougainvillea, Casa Colonial, flowers, Mexico, mural, music, musicians, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, popular travel destinations on March 1, 2017| 3 Comments »
Sunday afternoon at Casa Colonial in Oaxaca: Sun filtering through the trees of a lush tropical garden, the smell of hamburgers and hotdogs grilling on a barbecue, a friendly bartender, and a great jazz combo. What more could anyone want?
Thank you to the Casa’s owner Jane Robison and manager Amado Bolaños. It was a lovely way to spend a Sunday.
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Gardens, tagged birds, fountain, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on February 27, 2017| 1 Comment »
Yesterday, as my BFF and I sat outside drinking our morning coffee…
…we were joined on the terrace. Nothing like that first sip of the day!
Posted in Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged flowers, frangipani, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, plumeria on February 23, 2017| 2 Comments »
A plumeria (aka, frangipani) blossoms on the terrace…
During this, the middle of a very dry, dry season, a perfumed promise of primavera.
Posted in Celebrations, Churches, Creativity, Culture, Exhibitions, Gardens, Travel & Tourism, tagged Alejandro Santiago, æbleskiver (Danish pancakes), calaveras, cemetery, Christmas Eve, Cuba, Flamboyant trees, Guelaguetza desfile, hearts, Mexico, New Year's Eve, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, Santo Domingo de Guzmán, sculptures, weather on December 31, 2016| 11 Comments »
It was a year I’m sure many would like to forget; it was disastrous for the planet AND her inhabitants. For me, on this last day of the year, I choose to reflect on the beauty, joy, love, and new adventures that I was fortunate to experience.
I welcomed 2016 in the San Francisco Bay Area at my childhood home, now my younger son’s domicile. Thus on New Year’s Day, I made æbleskiver (Danish pancakes) using my great grandmother’s recipe and her, well over 100 year old, cast iron pan.
Æbleskiver on New Year’s Day 2016; a family tradition.
Back in Oaxaca, February brought a community Día de Amor y Amistad fiesta in my apartment complex. Have I mentioned? I have wonderful neighbors!
Valentine’s Day party decorations in the patio.
March was unseasonably hot, but the blue skies and flamboyant trees beginning to bloom made it bearable.
Flamboyant trees, Santo Domingo de Guzmán, and agave.
April took me to Cuba, a lifelong dream finally realized. It was more fascinating, confounding, and fabulous than I had ever expected.
View from the Hotel Habana Riviera.
By May, the flamboyant trees had leafed out and were in full bloom — and we needed it, as the hot-hot-hot temperatures continued.
Flamboyant trees and Santo Domingo de Guzmán looking picture perfect.
A calavera on the streets of Oaxaca in June? Absolutely! She knows no season.
Sad calavera standing on the sidewalk.
And, then there was July! So much to see and do, this month warrants three images.
Indigenous pipe and drums lead off the first, and stormy, Guelaguetza desfile.
El Jardín Etnobotánico was again the site of the Mole Festival. So beautiful!
Vela Vinnii Gaxheé parade float waiting for the Intrepidas to board.
The rainy season was in full force in August and I loved standing on my terrace watching the storms approach, though sometimes they didn’t make it all the way to Casita Colibrí. Microclimates!
Storm approaching the city from the south.
September brought the second major feast day in Teotitlán del Valle: Fiesta a la Natividad de la Virgen María.
Bringing canastas to the church for the unmarried women and girls to carry in the convite.
I was in California from late September to early October, and when I returned there was a new exhibition in the courtyard of the Museo de Arte Prehispánico de México Rufino Tamayo.
Some of the 2501 migrant sculptures by the late Alejandro Santiago.
For the past couple of years, one of my destinations on November 1 has been the panteón in Tlacolula de Matamoros; its beauty and tranquility always take my breath away.
Light and shadows cast by the daughters of the Tule tree, play off the colors of the chapel in the panteón.
Later in November, I spent a delightful Thanksgiving with family and friends on the east coast of the USA, but returned to spend Christmas in Oaxaca for the first time in three years. It was just as joyous and colorful as I remembered!
Nochebuena angels on a float in the zócalo.
These three are the future; let’s vow to do all we can to give them a better world than the 2016 one that is departing.
Many thanks to you all; I am constantly amazed and gratified that you choose to stop by. Wishing all the best for you, your loved ones, and your communities in 2017. ¡Feliz año nuevo a tod@s!
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Flora, Gardens, Science & Nature, Travel & Tourism, tagged African Tulip trees, agave, birds, Casita Colibrí, caterpillars, flowers, garden, Mexico, Oaxaca, orb weaver spiders, photographs, photos on December 17, 2016| 12 Comments »
Last week, a friend of mine in California challenged me to post a nature photo every day for seven days on Facebook. I had participated in one of these challenges nine months before, posting mostly photos from the countryside. This time, I decided to acknowledge the gifts that Mother Nature keeps surprising me with in my rooftop terrace garden.
African tulip tree seen from my terrace, July 6, 2016
Neoscona Oaxacensis orb weaver spider, Sept. 9, 2016
Night Blooming Cereus early morning, July 21, 2016
Lesser Goldfinch (I think) on the terrace chain link fence, Nov. 12, 2016
Io moth caterpillar munching on plumeria leaf, Oct. 31, 2016
Hibiscus flower taken Oct. 19, 2016
Agave and Stapelia gigantia early evening, Oct. 24, 2016
And, in the spirit of the season, they are my gifts to you. Hope you like!
Posted in Animals, Casita Colibrí, Gardens, Music, tagged birds, Leonard Cohen, Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos on November 11, 2016| 4 Comments »
The view from Casita Colibrí after the election in el norte…
What are you looking at?
Not liking what I’m seeing.
Contemplating the future…
Bird On The Wire
by Leonard Cohen
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Like a worm on a hook,
like a knight from some old fashioned book
I have saved all my ribbons for thee.
If I, if I have been unkind,
I hope that you can just let it go by.
If I, if I have been untrue
I hope you know it was never to you.
Like a baby, stillborn,
like a beast with his horn
I have torn everyone who reached out for me.
But I swear by this song
and by all that I have done wrong
I will make it all up to thee.
I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch,
he said to me, “You must not ask for so much.”
And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door,
she cried to me, “Hey, why not ask for more?”
Oh like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Rest in peace, Leonard Cohen. Thank you for your poetry, your music, your voice, and your grace.
Posted in Gardens, tagged Mexico, Oaxaca, photographs, photos, table and chairs, terrace, umbrella, wind on November 4, 2016| Leave a Comment »
A pause in the Día de Muertos coverage for breaking news!!!
A few months ago, I replaced the small lightweight plastic table, that came with my apartment, with a larger dark green/black wrought iron one. A couple of weeks ago, I exchanged the faded blue umbrella for a dark green one. However, blue plastic chairs continued to surround the table — dark green chairs remained elusive, until today. All was now color-coordinated perfection.
Then, late this afternoon the winds came, the umbrella took flight, and disappeared
Up, up, and away over the terrace it sailed, landing on the rooftop of the apartment compound bodega. Thank goodness it didn’t leave the property!
However, there is good news — with the aid of an extension ladder, long pole, and another gust of wind, my neighbor D freed it from the tree limb and its new rooftop perch. Intact, it slowly glided down to the driveway. It is now back, standing in the center of the table — albeit collapsed and fastened with a bungee cord. Great minds are working on ways to better secure it.
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